Chapter 8 - Alexander's Betrayal
I didn't speak to Alexander for six hours.
When he finally came home, I was waiting.
The bank's security report sat on the table.
He saw it.
His shoulders dropped.
“Claire…”
“Did you try to access Isla's account?”
“No.”
“Someone used your credentials.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because Mom had them.”
The room went silent.
“Why?”
Alexander sat down.
“Three years ago, she asked me to sign some documents.”
“You said you didn't know what they were.”
“I didn't.”
“You signed anyway.”
He nodded.
I looked at the man I had married.
“I kept thinking your mother was the monster.”
Alexander's eyes filled with tears.
“She is.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“She is responsible for what she did.”
“But you helped build the door she walked through.”
He lowered his head.
That night I moved Isla into Renata's house.
I didn't tell my daughter we were leaving because of money.
I told her we needed a sleepover.
She packed three stuffed animals.
Before we left, she stood in the doorway of her bedroom.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Is Daddy coming?”
I looked at Alexander.
He was crying silently in the hallway.
“Not tonight.”
Isla nodded.
Then she whispered:
“Did I do something wrong?”
I hugged her.
“No.”
She started crying.
“Then why does Grandma hate me?”
I held her tighter.
“Because sometimes adults carry broken ideas for so long that they forget they're broken.”
The next morning, Evelyn called.
“Claire, I need you to sit down.”
I did.
“Philippa filed an emergency petition.”
“For what?”
“To have Isla removed as beneficiary.”
“On what grounds?”
“She claims Charles wasn't mentally competent when he signed the amendment.”
I closed my eyes.
“Can she do that?”
“She can try.”
“What do we have?”
“The nurse.”
“The photograph.”
“The original document.”
“Anything else?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Your mother-in-law made one mistake.”
May you like
“What mistake?”
“She left a digital trail.”
